Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

On the day Baizhi Valley officially opened to the public, Jiang Ruoxi did not invite reporters, but only had a wooden plaque hung at the entrance of the valley.

The plaque was carved by Su Qinghan himself, with slender, delicate characters: Baizhi Valley.

Ye Chen said the calligraphy was too plain and lacked grandeur.

Su Qinghan said, "Medicine isn't something you sell for show."

Ye Chen then fell silent.

Jiang Ruoxi had a batch of minimalist packaging made: plain white paper boxes stamped with a small red clay seal that read "Made by Yaowang Valley".

The first batch of herbal tea and pear syrup sold out within days of being put on the shelves.

Jiang Ruoxi had the factory expedite the order for another batch, but it still wasn't enough.

Ye Chen patrols the Jiang Group buildings during the day, and goes to Baizhi Valley after work.

Over time, he became half a valley master.

One weekend, he was squatting in front of the seedling shed explaining to the new workers how to identify seedlings when He Jianping rushed up and said someone was looking for him outside.

Ye Chen asked who it was, and He Jianping said, "An old man, dressed in tattered clothes, carrying a snakeskin bag. I almost stopped him because he thought he was a homeless person. He specifically asked for you and even knew your birth date and time. I figured this old man was no ordinary person, so I took him to the door to wait."

Ye Chen patted the dirt off his hands and walked to the entrance of the valley, where he indeed saw a gaunt old man squatting by the roadside.

The old man had gray hair, a tanned face, and wore a pair of worn-out canvas shoes.

But Ye Chen only glanced at him once before stopping in his tracks.

The old man also looked up, grinned, and said, "Little Chenzi, you've grown quite a bit taller."

Ye Chen rushed over and pulled the old man up from the ground: "Seventh Uncle! What brings you here?"

That old man was an elder from Medicine King Valley. When Ye Chen was a child, he often stole the dried wild fruits that the old man dried.

After Su Youdao disappeared, he also went down the mountain and was never heard from again.

Ye Chen searched for it, but couldn't find it.

I never expected that they would come knocking on my door today.

Seventh Uncle patted him on the shoulder: "I heard you've managed to get the Medicine King Valley signboard up. I came back to check and see if someone smashed it."

Ye Chen felt both happy and heartbroken.

He asked He Jianping to call Su Qinghan, while he led his seventh uncle into the valley.

Seventh Uncle looked around as he walked, and when he saw the medicinal fields and greenhouses by the roadside, he kept saying, "Great, really great. Your master used to always say that it would be great if Medicine King Valley had a piece of land outside the mountains."

Ye Chen explained, "Now we not only have land, but also a company. Your return is just in time. I'm short-handed right now, so why don't you stay in Baizhi Valley and help look after the medicinal fields and manage the workers?"

Seventh Uncle laughed heartily, without saying whether it was okay or not, he just took out a paper packet from the snakeskin bag and handed it to Ye Chen.

When Ye Chen opened it, he saw several pieces of something that had been sunburnt black.

Seventh Uncle said, "I dug up some wild Solomon's Seal from the mountains in the south. I'm going to make wine for your master."

Ye Chen felt a lump in his throat and nodded emphatically.

When Su Qinghan saw her seventh uncle, she showed a rare hint of excitement.

She welcomed them into the small house and then asked Jiang Ruoxi to serve tea.

Seventh Uncle looked at Jiang Ruoxi and smiled so much his eyes narrowed: "This is your wife? Good, good, she has a nice face and looks like she can manage things. Ye Chen has been very wild since he was a child, so you'll have to keep an eye on him."

Jiang Ruoxi smiled and agreed.

Ye Chen muttered from the side, "I've been completely under her thumb for a long time."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Seventh Uncle settled down in the valley.

He couldn't stay idle, so he would carry a hoe and go to the fields every day, telling the workers which plot of land needed to be loosened and which type of weeds should not be pulled.

The workers all loved listening to him speak.

He recounted the old stories of Medicine King Valley like a storyteller, and could talk for half an afternoon.

Ye Chen sometimes sat beside him and listened, as if he had returned to his childhood.

Jiang Ruoxi said, "This seventh uncle is quite like the living Medicine King Gu Zhi."

Ye Chen nodded: "Everyone in my sect is a treasure, but they've been scattered for too long. If even one of them can come back, that's good enough."

That evening, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi returned to Jiangcheng.

On the way, Jiang Ruoxi received a call from Secretary Wang, who said that a southern medicinal herb company had approached her, wanting to discuss a long-term cooperation with Bai Zhigu.

The other party has a clean background and strong capabilities; the boss's surname is Chen.

Upon hearing the surname Chen, Jiang Ruoxi immediately thought of Boss Chen, with whom Ye Chen had a pleasant conversation in the valley last time.

She told Ye Chen about it, and he said, "Boss Chen is a good person. Last time he said he would introduce us to some channels in the south. We can make contact and see, but as always, let's find out the situation first before discussing terms."

Jiang Ruoxi agreed.

They've all learned their lesson now; the bigger the business, the more cautious they need to be.

Sure enough, Boss Chen personally led his team to Jiangcheng two days later.

Jiang Ruoxi met him at the Jiang Group. Boss Chen was in his fifties, spoke slowly and deliberately, but every question he asked hit the nail on the head.

He was extremely knowledgeable about medicinal herbs. He had a video call with Su Qinghan and was able to tell her the quality of several authentic medicinal herbs even through the screen.

Ye Chen felt more and more that this person was someone worth befriending.

However, Han Song discovered that there was a very young minor shareholder in Boss Chen's company, surnamed Ying, who was from the south and rarely showed up, only participating in decision-making through an agent.

Ye Chen had his men dig deeper and discovered that the man surnamed Ying seemed to have some connection with a distant relative of a deceased manager of the Blackwater headquarters back then.

The news caused everyone's hearts to race again.

Jiang Ruoxi said, "It may not be a bad thing, but we can't be careless either."

"Don't alert them yet. Let Brother Song investigate further. If Boss Chen really came with sincerity, we won't wrong an innocent person. If there's something fishy going on behind his back, we'll cut it off completely this time."

Ye Chen invited Boss Chen for drinks.

Jiang Ruoxi accompanied them.

The three of them enjoyed a table of authentic Jiangcheng cuisine at a private restaurant by the river.

As the wine flowed freely, Ye Chen suddenly asked, "Boss Chen, I like to get straight to the point. What's the background of that shareholder in your company surnamed Ying?"

Mr. Chen paused slightly in his cup-holding hand, then sighed, "I knew I couldn't hide it. He's my ex-wife's brother. A few years ago, he invested some money in me but never interfered with the business. I know he has ties to Blackwater and have been trying to distance myself from it, but some relatives aren't so easily severed. It's normal that you're worried. Think about this partnership again, but one thing I assure you is that I, Chen Shouye, am running a legitimate business."

Ye Chen looked at him without saying a word.

Jiang Ruoxi picked up her tea and said softly, "Boss Chen, we believe in your sincerity, but you also understand that in this world, sincerity alone is not enough. If you want to cooperate, you must first sort out the relationships around you."

Chen Shouye was silent for a moment, then downed the wine in his glass in one gulp and said, "Fine, give me a month, and I'll give you a clear explanation."

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi exchanged a glance but remained silent.

A month later, Chen Shouye indeed arrived with a share transfer document.

That minority shareholder has completely withdrawn.

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi officially signed a contract with him.

On the day of the signing, Chen Shouye said, "Blackwater has ruined half my life. It's my luck to be able to cooperate with you."

Ye Chen patted his shoulder: "Selling good medicine together is better than anything else."

From then on, the gates of Baizhi Valley opened even wider.

But Ye Chen knew in his heart that the road ahead would not be as simple as just growing and selling medicinal herbs.

The waters of this world will never truly be still.